A UK 'clearing bank' that lets other companies offer accounts and payments in real time. Launched in 2017, it works behind the scenes for banks, fintechs and others.
ClearBank is a UK bank that most people have never seen, because it works behind the scenes. Instead of serving the public directly, it gives other companies the plumbing for banking: accounts, and the ability to send and receive payments in real time. Banks, building societies, fintech companies (firms that use technology to deliver financial services) and other businesses use it to offer these services without building the systems themselves. A "clearing bank" is one that is directly connected to the UK's payment systems, so money can move between banks.
ClearBank launched in 2017 and describes itself as the "first new, full-service clearing bank for over 250 years". A Fintech Times profile names Nick Ogden (a founder and investor, whose earlier career included founding Worldpay according to news coverage) and Andrew Smith (a founder and former chief technology officer) as the people who built and connected its technology. It was built from scratch on Microsoft's Azure cloud rather than on older bank systems. Charles McManus, a co-founder, was chief executive from 2015 until March 2025, when Mark Fairless, who joined as chief financial officer in January 2023, was promoted to the top job. ClearBank is based in the UK, and an Indeed company listing gives London as its headquarters.
ClearBank says it wants to deliver banking services that support innovation, competition and choice, and aims to build "the most sustainable banking and payment infrastructure in the world". In the Fintech Times profile it said it wants to make transactions quicker, cheaper and more efficient and to break down barriers to competition in business banking. These are the company's own statements of intent.
Its first fintech customer was the business-banking app Tide, and it now says it has over 250 customers across the UK and Europe (a fintechfutures report from March 2025, which also says it holds a European banking licence from the ECB, the European Central Bank). Its services include clearing and payments, accounts that other firms offer to their own customers, and banking built into other companies' products (called embedded banking). It has won industry awards, including Technology Partner of the Year at the British Bank Awards in 2023 and 2024.
ClearBank describes its culture as built on trust and honesty, with five pillars: build trust together, care like we mean it, grow with the challenge, succeed as one, and clear a bold new path. Its tagline is "Where You Can". Mr McManus has been quoted as saying that if something goes wrong, "put your hand up, there's no blame". Roles lean towards engineering, payments operations, client management and risk. The company went fully remote before the first UK lockdown, and its jobs are advertised mainly in London. We did not find a UK graduate scheme, apprenticeship or internship, so check its careers page.
Website: clear.bank
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